Copied from the SBSA Chat Box
Fun, but very challenging day out there due to the strong west wind that developed and the difficulty in gaining much altitude for most of the day.
I ended up completing the SB Hoedown October task, but it sure was a challenge. I've included a link to the doarama below, which has a short description of the flight too:
P.S. - Aaron also did the task today, unsurprisingly a lot faster than me!
http://doarama.com/view/1666296Derek’s Narrative below copied from his doarama
This was my first attempt at the SB Hoedown October task, which ended up being a doozy of a flight on this day due to a strong west wind that developed early on and plagued me during the entire push west from Thermal Factory to No Name. The start gate I used was 12:30pm (though it says 11:30am on the timestamp because it's not taking into account daylight savings), but I didn't really commit to completing the task in earnest until timestamp 12:21:00 when I believed for the first time that I might be able to gain the high line to connect with No Name (it had been a challenge all day to gain much altitude). What ensued was a lesson for me in hiding from a headwind and/or using it to ridge soar to lose less altitude while making progress towards goal. Of particular note is a huge accelerated collapse (80% at least) I took in the lee of No Name at timestamp 12:56:25. I'm fairly sure I hit rotor, and it was a bad place to be, for sure. Perhaps there was a better route to take to tag the cylinder around No Name, or perhaps I shouldn't have tried? Nevertheless, I rallied, tagged the cylinder, and flew the downwind leg without much trouble. I ended up completing the task in about 1 hour and 48 minutes. This flight was very rewarding to complete, but also very mentally taxing. Quite a challenge for me! [Note: stated altitude is consistently about 200 feet too low.]
Reply to Aaron's SBSA Chat Box Comments:
Aaron, your comments and analysis are spot on with what was going through my mind. Once high on Cathedral (4100-ish I think) on the upwind leg, I had to decide whether I was going to cut straight over the canyon for the back point of Westbowl or make the play for the high line by diving back to La Cumbre. I chose the high line because I knew I could surf that high bowl all the way to past Alternator without losing my too much (even with the headwind). I would have loved to know how the other option would have turned out (I guess I'll have to fly it sometime in similar conditions).
I'll also add a few notes to your analysis for those who are interested in this level of detail:
1. Not only Cathedral, but Westbowl can work well with a west wind, due to the west facing nature of the parts the bowl itself. This is evidenced by the absolute boomer I caught out of there on the way back to TF. You can tell how windy it was by my thermal drift, but it was still working like a champ.
2. I think I got smacked in the lee of No Name but not in the lee of Cathedral because the climb I found on the sheltered flank of Cathedral was quite good, and probably blocked the west a bit as I entered the would be rotor zone... No Name canyon offered no such relief.